There are obvious qualms I have with any Republican in the mayor’s seat, whether it be their lip service for business folks or their party’s ensuing demagoguery. But also there’s not much redeeming about our two last Democrats in the seat either. Dennis Tyler’s prison sentence was a shame to the community, but even prior to that you have two-term Jim Carey, known for taking bribes as sheriff and the never-ending county jail fiasco.1 The two administrations were largely just seen as a continuation of corrupt machine politics in Muncie, whether that be Rollin Bunch in his own bygone era or Phil Nichols in the last few decades.
I was convinced that when Jeff Robinson ran last year he didn’t fit the mold of that side of the party, but his way of convincing the electorate of this was by trying to out-conservative his opponent Dan Ridenour. Am I opposed to getting rid of unneeded spending? Of course not. But the issue with trying to out-conservative a conservative is that A. no Republican voter is going to take note of it when they can just vote for their own party, and B. it doesn’t get to the core issue of why you’re unpopular. Because being a common man in the eyes of an electorate isn’t about being that middle ground, “pragmatic” candidate who can relate to suburban’s just by sporting a Patagonia vest.
When talking about Muncie’s local politicians, we had one figure that’s unfortunately too irrelevant nowadays: Bob Cunningham. A former mayor in the late ‘70s who was an effective proponent of labor and civil rights, all without acting like the heads of 214. In his time he meant a lot to the community beyond his political career, but notably in his run for the mayors’ seat he went against a lot of opposition. As Rick Yencer wrote about him in The Star: “Cunningham managed to beat the Democratic Party machine in 1975, beating former Mayor Paul Cooley in the Democratic primary and Republican John (Jack) Isenbarger in the general election. It was the same Democratic Party infighting that beat Cunningham 4 years later when James P. Carey won his first nomination for the job.”2 Cunningham in that election managed to spearhead both the corrupt leadership in his party and the status quo of the Republicans.
For much of his life right after serving overseas in Germany he was a grocer, running the Red Front Grocery Store from 1948 to 1969 and then Cunningham’s Market until he was inaugurated mayor. When I was researching and asking around about who Cunningham was as a person, there were countless stories about him giving out free food for his store employees or anyone else who was facing food insecurity. He lived a very humble life and was highly dedicated to his community, and to those who knew him well it wasn’t a facade by any stretch.
It’s not hard to find charisma in our history of mayors. That was the magic held by Cunningham’s eventual successor Carey, who had a casual enough demeanor to be interviewed shirtless, hanging a cigar from his brash mouth, and repeating hits like “I speak five languages and wear five sets of clothes.” But what set Cunningham apart was more authentic than working a crowd. He was invested in the lore of Muncie and the best aspects of our past memories growing up here. Not in the interest of over-romanticizing that history, but sticking to something true about keeping community alive and well. Not only did he have that appeal in Muncie as the man of the people, but he was also something of an autodidact for his interest in historic preservation. His personal papers that were donated to Bracken library include not only what he saved from his time in office, but documents on Muncie history that date back to the 1890s. He was also a cartoonist, writing for the Evening Press and creating his own books with illustrations, one of which being his series “Growing Up In Middletown, U.S.A.”
His political career started when he won a council seat in 1955. He lost the next election but soon got reelected in ’63, later had a brief stint as council president in ‘68, and even after losing his first try at running for mayor in ’71 he was appointed to council by his party again in ’74. Hurley Goodall considered him a believer in civil rights and a “true populist,”3 and his time in council was the certainly the best time for such accomplishments. Muncie elections had their own Democratic landslide years between the ’60s and ’70s, which isn’t a surprise given what was happening nationally for social movements. Our own Human Rights Commission was started by an ordinance in ’64, another ordinance allowed the commission to enforce Open Housing, and MLK Jr’s Poor Peoples Campaign was highly active in town.
In the ’75 primary he beat two-term mayor Paul Cooley, and in doing so fighting his party’s establishment. While Cooley was backed by a political machine that worked against its dissenting faction, Cunningham didn’t have nearly as many links in the arena. But his most major one came from Jean Hemmert, who served on the Democratic precinct committee, Delaware county voters registration, and eventually as Cunningham’s Secretary. She helped Cunningham in every election he ran for and acted as his watchdog against anyone trying to maneuver him politically. She was active in politics in a lowkey style like many others, but her own father Harry Kleinfelder was also previously active, as he served in council during the second John C. Hampton administration, as well as building examiner during George Dale’s administration.4
Cunningham and his supporters on election night. Courtesy of Ball State Archives and Special Collections.
After winning against Cooley in the primary by 793 votes,5 from there it was him against Republican nominee in the general election Jack Isenbarger, who previously served as party chairman and county commissioner. The revered “Man of the Hour” was set to be the best underdog candidate in the city’s history, running against yet another big business stooge to run for the opposing party. During a mayoral debate for example he had no issue criticizing Ball Corporation for moving their facilities out of Muncie to get away with paying less pensions to employees. Isenbarger on the other hand blamed the labor climate for bringing less industry to Muncie,6 and following the event Cunningham was criticized for his statement in editorials and by Ball Corp.7
What’s interesting, too, about the election was that of the two candidates Isenbarger actually gave more detail oriented ideas on issues, and yet Cunningham won by being more accessible to voters. In Thomas Moran’s book Pendulum Politics: The Political System of Muncie, city elections over a fifty year period were analyzed based on precinct totals and the appeal of candidates according to newspapers. The last election analyzed was Cunningham versus Isenbarger, and Moran points out how Cunningham’s win was thanks to his approach as a forthright ordinary guy with no special endowments. Moran writes: “Cunningham was familiar not only with the people and their needs, but he was familiar also with their psychology. He employed a campaign style that would work successfully on the south side. The proverbial ‘low key’ approach was more compatible than Isenbarger’s ‘pie in the sky’ as he was labeled by Cunningham forces.”8
I’m not by any means saying the takeaway should involve Democrats not giving pragmatic policy, but clearly elections aren’t always about million-word pamphlets on cost-effective plans or bougie graphic designs on door hangers. And it’s pointless if it’s only going to obfuscate the message and alienate potential supporters. I remember once reading a social media post from Jeff Robinsons campaign with a quote of his on food insecurity in Muncie. And instead of using straightforward language that would address that we have a problem to begin with, which would be doing more than the current mayor has said or done, it was “utilize the people’s EDIT funds to attract and develop needed, accessible, and value-added access to food and household goods and services.” By the time I finished reading I had already forgotten what he was talking about. I’m not saying reduce it to a catchy slogan, but read your audience who could benefit from hearing straight forward what the problem happening is.
Cunningham in his office with his brothers. From left to right: David Cunningham, Robert Cunningham, John Cunningham, and Joe Cunningham. Special thanks to the Cunningham family for providing this and other photos.
Once he went into office, he was highly criticized and his chances at reelection were quickly stiffled. Journalists like Rick Yencer wrote fondly about him afterwards, but from reading what was said during his term you would think he was Dennis Kucinich, who Clevelanders nicknamed “Dennis the Menace” for supposedly driving business out of their city (although both he and Cunningham did fight off utility increases). A lot of the administration’s shortcomings were beyond his own control. The Blizzard of ’78, that thing your grandparents bring up every time a flake of snow hits the ground, was the main event that did him in politically. Even on top of that there was the Firemen’s Strike, which was the first and only strike in Muncie history where firemen and police didn’t go to work as a result.
Cunningham was sympathetic to their demands, and offered a 10% increase, but they would only settle for 12%.9 It was also, in his defense, what council said the city could afford and what they’d vote on. For the firemen and police, it wasn’t so much about the pay increase itself but wanting the city to respect their negotiation agreements. But certainly compared to other recent administrations, 10% was a hell of a deal. Regardless, both of these events were beyond Cunningham’s control yet only put him in hot water. And, his whole party was ready for a bad election because of a corruption scandal with the Muncie Sanitary District, which only put his advisor Arnold Blevins in deep when he was tried and acquitted, but Cunningham himself evidently had little to do with it.10
In the 1979 primary that he ran for, there were ten candidates in the field. It could be possible that some candidates ran to dilute his support, but there backgrounds were more varied. Jerry Thornburg, who supported Cunningham in the last election, was one of the top contenders. Regardless, they lost to the epidemy of corruption in the party, Jim Carey. After Carey’s win in the primary many Democrats weren’t enthusiastic about supporting his nomination. Judge Stephen Caldemeyer decided to quit his role as top judge of the county purely to speak out against the nominee, and led a faction of “dissident” Democrats who ostensibly sat out the election, and immediately criticized his opponent Alan Wilson once he was sworn in. Afterwards, he served as a Center Township Assessor for ten years and did attempt another run for mayor years after his last run. He spent much of his time doing his best illustrations and helped out on historic preservation among other efforts.
He was personally proud of his term for fighting to keep public utility costs low, granting 26% in public salary increases total, getting Muncie federal funds for public and elderly housing, and the reconstruction of Broadway and Madison.11 He wasn’t a major antagonizer in his personality, but he did effortlessly stand against what he thought was hurting the people of Muncie. I would personally go as far as saying he was the last great mayor of the city, seeing that every administration since has either been outwardly scandalous or taken us further into sketchy private dealings. More can definitely be learned about what his accomplishments were, and because of that the Muncie Post-Democrat would like to announce that we have new projects in the making inspired by Cunningham’s work: we now have a brief bio available about his time in Muncie politics, which we hope can help more people connect with his influence on the community. Since he worked diligently on historic preservation, in one way by compiling city election results and facts, we’re launching a city election page to document Muncie elections from beginning to today. As of now the page is currently limited to general elections from 1917 to 2023 and has yet to have a mobile version available. But we hope over months and with community support we can continue filling details and finding what’s available on his time in office.
Notes
1. The Delaware County Jail in its inception was a city-county collaboration. https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2018/08/03/delaware-countys-jail-history-story-failure-millions-spent/784104002/
2. Yencer, Rick. 1993. “Retiring officeholder preserves city’s past with books, drawings.” Muncie Star, June 21st. 1, 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253649788/
3. Yencer, Rick. 2005. “Cunningham was ‘for the common man.'” Muncie Star Press. June 1st. 1, 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253970968/
4. Winters, Rita. 1980. “Goodbye City Hall, Jean Hemmert ‘On The Move Again.'” The Muncie Morning Star. January 6th. 13, 14. https://www.newspapers.com/image/252422867/
5. Cunningham, Robert. History of Muncie City Elections 1865-1995. (Muncie, Ind. 1995), 89.
6. Stack, Mike. 1975. “Isenbarger Blames Labor, Management for Plant Loss.” 1. The Muncie Morning Star. October 3rd. https://www.newspapers.com/image/252445489/
7. n.a. 1975. “Cunningham Far Off Base.” Muncie Morning Star. 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/252446227/
8. Moran, Thomas, Pendulum Politics, The Political System of Muncie. (Muncie, Ind. 1978), 174-175.
9. n.a. 1977. “Firemen strike, snow top ’77 stories.” Muncie Evening Press. 1,7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253649788/
10. Yencer, Rick. 1979. “‘Keep Door Open,’ Muncie’s Cunningham Among Eight Exiting Mayors.” 30,31. https://www.newspapers.com/image/252528414
11. Ibid.